Tony Anderson – Problem (2009.10.03)

Video Transcript:

I see 3 problems, and one is the age of our base load generation across the country and in Michigan. We have nuclear plants, we have coal plants that are on 24/7 and have been doing that for a long period of time. Some of the coal plants in Michigan are 50 years old. We need to upgrade those. We need to figure out how we’re going to replace those.

Another problem I see is the aging transmission lines, which are also 50-70 years old. And we’ve added load to those. We’ve not upgraded them very much over the last 50 years. They’re in need. They’re like a highway system that we need to maintain. So we need to look at that going forward.

The third problem I see is the perception that renewables are going to solve all our problems. I can put up a windmill, I can put up a solar panel and my problems are solved. Renewables are a part of the solution going forward, but they’re just one of the pieces to the puzzle. We need to combine wind and solar and hydro energy with new clean coal, with new expanded nuclear plants, and we need to focus on conservation and energy efficiency. We have a lot of bullets in the gun and we need to use them all. There is no one silver bullet and that’s the biggest problem I see, is that people’s perception, maybe media perception that there’s one solution out there. There is not one solution. It’s a combination of solutions that we all have to come together on.